Dr. Kirstin Brink
I am an Assistant Professor at the University of Manitoba in the Department of Geological Sciences and Adjunct Curator of Fossil Vertebrates at the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre in Morden, MB. I am a vertebrate palaeontologist interested in the evolution and development of teeth and bones, specifically tissue structure and growth rates, and the relationship between structure, growth, and animal ecology. My research involves the use of living animal models to understand how extinct animals grew and interacted with their environment. I have worked with living reptiles (e.g. leopard geckos and green anoles), and fossils of non-mammalian synapsids (e.g., Dimetrodon), dinosaurs (e.g. Tyrannosaurus rex and Hypacrosaurus stebingeri), plants (Cunninghamia hornbyensis), and trackways (Ichniotherium). I use histology, microscopy, Computed Tomography (CT scans), Scanning Electron Microscopy, and Transmission Electron Microscopy to address my research. Contact me to find out about opportunities in the lab: kirstin.brink[at]umanitoba.ca |

Victoria Markstrom
MSc thesis project: Thermoregulation in Late Cretaceous mosasaurs of Manitoba
Contact: ummarksv[at]myumanitoba.ca
MSc thesis project: Thermoregulation in Late Cretaceous mosasaurs of Manitoba
Contact: ummarksv[at]myumanitoba.ca

Virginia Gold
MSc thesis project: Formation and diagenesis of growth marks in marine reptile teeth
Contact: goldv[at]myumanitoba.ca
MSc thesis project: Formation and diagenesis of growth marks in marine reptile teeth
Contact: goldv[at]myumanitoba.ca

Michael Thompson
PhD student project: A stratigraphic approach to decipher Late Cretaceous faunal turnover, Dinosaur Park Formation, Alberta, Canada
Contact: thomp151[at]myumanitoba.ca
PhD student project: A stratigraphic approach to decipher Late Cretaceous faunal turnover, Dinosaur Park Formation, Alberta, Canada
Contact: thomp151[at]myumanitoba.ca

Maria Hussain
Otolith Technician, ENGF
Contact: hussain9@myumanitoba.ca
Otolith Technician, ENGF
Contact: hussain9@myumanitoba.ca
Lab Alumni

Sierra Schlief
Summer USRA and Directed Studies Project: Bone histology and skeletochronology in captive leopard geckos (2021-2022) and preparation and examination of fish otoliths for potential contaminants with collaborator Michael Schindler in the Environmental Nano Geoscience Facility (2022-2023).
Contact: schliefs[at]myumanitoba.ca
Summer USRA and Directed Studies Project: Bone histology and skeletochronology in captive leopard geckos (2021-2022) and preparation and examination of fish otoliths for potential contaminants with collaborator Michael Schindler in the Environmental Nano Geoscience Facility (2022-2023).
Contact: schliefs[at]myumanitoba.ca

Ashley Verstrate
BSc Honors Thesis Project (2022-2023): Enamel microstructure of heterodont theropod dinosaurs
Contact: verstraa[at]myumanitoba.ca
BSc Honors Thesis Project (2022-2023): Enamel microstructure of heterodont theropod dinosaurs
Contact: verstraa[at]myumanitoba.ca

Aaron Kilmury
2020-2022 MSc thesis project: Vertebrate faunal assemblages of the Late Cretaceous Western
Interior Seaway of Manitoba
Contact: kilmurya[at]myumanitoba.ca
2020-2022 MSc thesis project: Vertebrate faunal assemblages of the Late Cretaceous Western
Interior Seaway of Manitoba
Contact: kilmurya[at]myumanitoba.ca

Adam Snyder
2020-2022 MSc thesis project: Evolution of bite force in Dimetrodon
Contact: snydera1[at]myumanitoba.ca
2020-2022 MSc thesis project: Evolution of bite force in Dimetrodon
Contact: snydera1[at]myumanitoba.ca

Ethan Vallelly
Summer 2022 NSERC USRA project: Paleoecology of a marine bonebed from the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway of Manitoba. Contact: vallelle[at]myumanitoba.ca
Summer 2022 NSERC USRA project: Paleoecology of a marine bonebed from the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway of Manitoba. Contact: vallelle[at]myumanitoba.ca

Christian Plouffe
BSc Honours Thesis Project (2021-2022): Description and paleoecology of a new polycotylid plesiosaur from Manitoba
Contact: plouffe6[at]myumanitoba.ca
BSc Honours Thesis Project (2021-2022): Description and paleoecology of a new polycotylid plesiosaur from Manitoba
Contact: plouffe6[at]myumanitoba.ca